זָכ֛וֹר֩ אֶת־י֥֨וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖֜ת לְקַדְּשֽׁ֗וֹ׃
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.
שָׁמ֛֣וֹר אֶת־י֥וֹם֩ הַשַּׁבָּ֖֨ת לְקַדְּשׁ֑֜וֹ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖֣ ׀ יהוה אֱלֹהֶֽ֗יךָ׃
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the ETERNAL your God has commanded you.
מי ומי המדליקין ואם טעו ביום המעונן. ובו יז סעיפים: יהא זהיר לעשות נר יפה ויש מכוונים לעשות שתי פתילות אחד כנגד זכור ואחד כנגד שמור: הגה ויכולין להוסיף ולהדליק ג' או ד' נרות וכן נהגו. האשה ששכחה פעם אחת להדליק מדלקת כל ימיה ג' נרות (מהרי"ל) כי יכולין להוסיף על דבר המכוון נגד דבר אחר ובלבד שלא יפחות: (אשירי' ומרדכי מס' ר"ה ריש פ' י"ט):
One should take care to make a beautiful candle/lamp. And there are those who place two wicks in this lamp, with the intent that one light recall [the commandment] “Remember”and the other [commandment] “Observe".
ובמקום שאין נר אין שלום שהולך ונכשל והולך באפילה:
And where there is no candle, there is no peace, as he is walking and stumbling while walking in darkness.
"Candles," Meir Ydit and Rela Mintz Geffen. Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 2nd ed., vol. 4, Macmillan Reference USA, 2007, pp. 429-430.
In the Bible and Mishnah only oil-lamps and torches were used for lighting.... In later times candles made of tallow mixed with palm oil or wax, or candles of paraffin, gradually took the place of oil, especially in Europe. Although there is traditional basis for the use of candles in Judaism, undoubtedly their widespread employment in the rites of the Catholic Church encouraged their use among medieval Jewry. Even though people generally used candles, oil was still regarded as the more appropriate fuel for ritual purposes, especially for the Sabbath and Ḥanukkah lights. This was because prior to the invention of paraffin candles, candles were often made from the fat of ritually forbidden animals.
נֵר שֶׁל שַׁבָּת לִנְשֵׁי עַמָּא קַדִּישָׁא אִתְיְיהִיבַת לְאַדְלָקָא, וְחַבְרַיָיא הָא אָמְרוּ דְּאִיהִי כִּבְּתָה בּוֹצִינָא דְעָלְמָא וְאַחֲשִׁיכַת לֵיהּ כו' וְשַׁפִּיר. אֲבָל רָזָא דְמִלָּה. הַאי סֻכַּת שָׁלוֹם מַטְרוֹנִיתָא דְּעָלְמָא הִיא וְנִשְׁמָתִין דְּאִנּוּן בּוֹצִינָא עִלָּאָה בָּהּ שַׁרְיָין. וְעַל דָּא מַטְרוֹנִיתָא בַּעֲיָא לְאַדְלָקָא, דְּהָא בְּדוּכְתָּהָא אִתְאַחְדַת וַעֲבָדַת עוֹבָדָא.
The function of lighting the Sabbath light has been entrusted to the women of the holy people: as the colleagues put it, “woman put out the light of the world and brought darkness, etc.”; and so we agree. There is, however, a more esoteric reason. This tabernacle of peace is the Matron of the world, and the souls which are the celestial lamp abide in her. Hence it behooves the matron to kindle the light, because thereby she is attaching herself to her rightful place and performing her rightful function.